Quote:
Originally Posted by Requiem
With these brief thoughts in mind, I ask the following serious questions:
1. Obedience What is the driving force behind obedience to religious doctrines? Are we in it for the blessings (e.g. health, wealth and salvation), or is it out of love for our fellow men? Do we pay tithes and offerings as protection against personal misfortune (i.e. opening the "windows of heaven")?
|
It is a combination of peer pressure, the belief that we are being rewarded, and the gratification that comes both from doing good and from simultaneously conforming with our peers. It is complex.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Requiem
2. Divine Intervention Does God intervene in our daily lives according to our level of obedience? If so, why is God apparently so selective in bestowing said blessings? Why do we observe some individuals and families escape this life seemingly unscathed - while others experience such great suffering? Similar to the fourteenth century, do we judge those who suffer as being less worthy?
|
I used to listen to general conference talks as a kid and teenager and wonder why these people had all these amazing experiences and insights that I didn't ever seem to have. The conclusion I eventually came to is that they viewed life through a different lens that I did. If you begin to look for the good in your life, you can in fact begin to see the hand of the divine in almost everything. Now, does the fact that you now see the divine in everything mean that you have become better or that you are just now looking at life in a different way? I'm not sure. I do believe in blessings. I don't believe that any particular action causes any particular blessing to occur.